Death Is Nothing But An Unwanted Visitor In Our Lives And When An Unwanted Visitor Strolls In Our Lives, We Tend To Make Sure That They Do Not Feel Welcomed, So That They Do Not Come Back Again.
We Do Our Utmost Best To Make Sure That Death, Doesn’t See Our Doorstep Again.
That’s Why Whatever Pain, Torture And Distress That We Received When It Was With Us, We Lock It All Away And Throw The Key, When It’s Gone But What Happens If The Key Is Found And It’s Ready To Unlock That Pain Once Again, So That You May Deal With It Once And For All.
Chapter 6.
It’s Been Three Painful Days For Hector As He Has Had To Deal With His Step Sister And Mother That Will Do Anything To Deprive Him Of Happiness Or The Ability To Mourn For His Beloved Father In Peace.
Now The Day To Lay His Father To Rest Has Arrived And He Can’t Stop Crying As He Sits Besides His Father Coffin In The Black Van, Making Their Way To The Cemetery.
Upon Their Arrival At The Cemetery, The Pastor Begins The Sermon And His Preaching Is As Usual, “Fix Your Relationship With God Because You Do Not When He Will Take You Too”.
Everyone Including Some Of Hector’s Workmates Like Kgomotso, Yes That One With A Cheap Wig From Mabarastad Are Consoling Hector’s Siblings, Whilst Hector On The Other Hand Is Trying So Much To Hide The Pain And Torture That His Heart Is Currently Going Through.
Meanwhile Hector’s Mother And Sister Are Just Sitting Silently Without Caring About Anyone And When I Tell You Anyone, I Mean Everyone, They Only Care About Themselves Those Two.
When The Pastor Completes His Beautiful Yet Prolonged Sermon, He Calls For Hector As The First Son Of The Family And Marriage, To Come And Say A Few Words About His Father, As They Lower His Coffin.
He Stands Up And Slowly But At A Fast Pace Moves To The Burial Spot, He Stands On The Left Side Of The Coffin And As He Is About To Start Saying Something With Already Fresh Tears In His Eyes As His Father’s Coffin Is Being Lowered, His Mother Stands Up And Tells Him In A Loud Voice That.
MmeMoichela : Stop This Nonsense!! This Minute Before I Lose My Mind.. (Hector Looks At Her In Confusion And Looks Around At People Who Are Equally Confused, MmeMoichela Then Makes Her Way To Him And Says That) You Will Never Say Anything At This Burial Grounds About My Husband, When His Son That I Gave Birth Too, Is Still Alive.
Hector : (He Quickly Wipes Away His Tears And Looks At Her With Confusion, Asking Her That) What Is The Meaning Of This Mama?.... What Are You Trying To Say... That I Am Not....(She Quickly Cuts Him In His Sentence).
MmeMoichela : You Are His Son But Not Mine (Hector Immediately Looks Down In Shock And Embarrassment) You Were Born Out Of Wedlock And Like The Pastor Said, I Quote... “First Son Of The Family And Marriage” (Hector Slowly Shakes His Head In Disagreement) Don’t Shake Your Head.... Morena Should Be Here... Not You.... If My Daughter Can’t Say Anything Then You Will Not Say Anything, After All You Were Never My Son...
Hector Looks At His Siblings And They Look At Him With Confusion, Tears Quickly Make Their Way Through His Eyes And That’s When His Step Sister Who Was Standing Behind MmeMoichela Slowly Moves Near Him And Tells Him That.
Phuti : I.... (She Chuckles) Personally Think That You Should Follow Your Useless Father Or Don’t You Think So Too (She Quickly Pushes Him Into Burial Spot Where The Coffin Has Already Been Lowered, Shocking Everyone At The Burial Grounds, Including Some Of His Schoolmates And Teachers).
A Few Hours Before The Whole Drama That Took Place At The Funeral, Detective Nkosana Enters The Station Commander’s Office, Right Behind Her Along With Mulalo Mulaudzi.
Detective Nkosana : Ma’am I Personally Think That We Have Done A Huge Mistake Releasing That Young Man On Bail....He Was Supposed To Remain In Custody.
Mulalo Mulaudzi : Ma’am, Detective Nkosana Is Perfectly Correct In His Statement... He Is Telling The Truth.... We Have To Challenge The Bail At All Cost.
Dineo Mogale (The Station Commander) : Look Here... Young Men They Is Nothing We Can Do To Bring Him Back But For Now I Would Suggest That You Work A Little Bit Harder To Get More Evidence...
They Both Left Out A Sharp Sigh, Meanwhile Zimele Is Being Driven To His Father’s House By One Of His Personal Guards And The Lawyer.
He Turns To His Right And Asks The Lawyer, Pravin Naidoo That.
Zimele : Did You Do What I Said You Should Do?
Pravin : Yes... Yes I Did Sir... I Gave The Boy The Money Via Some Private Donation Through His School Using Mrs Alhambra’s Directions Of Course...
Zimele : Very Well.... I Don’t Want My Father To Know About This And He Must Never Know About This... Am I Clear...
Pravin : Yes Sir....
Zimele : (He Let’s Out A Sharp Sigh) Take Me To My Apartment... (Pravin Tries To Stop Him But Zimele Looks At Him Dead In The Eyes, With Some Underlying Pain In It And In A Stern Voice, He Tells Him That) You Have No Right To Disobey Me...Unless You Want To Lose Your Job And Join The Rest Of Your Bollywood Members In India.
Pravin : I’m...I’m Sorry Sir.... It Won’t Happen Again.... I Sincerely Apologies.
Zimele : Good.... Now Driver Take Me To My House.. Before I Lose It Completely (He Then Turns To Face The Left Side “The Window” And Begins Whistling)
Meanwhile Bab’Dlamini Is Pacing Up And Down In His Study, With His Stick In His Hand, That Is Helping Him To Balance.
Mabutho, Nganono And Mukuna Are Looking At Him Pace Up And Down, Whilst Talking Endlessly, And That’s When Nganono Asks Him That.
Nganono : So Now That Zimele Is Out Of Jail.. For Now And Still Under Investigation.... What About Nkosi?
Bab’Dlamini : What About Him.... I Don’t Want To Hear About Him... He Is The Cost Of All Of This... I Do Not Know What Is That Idiot Trying To Prove? I Have So Many Things That I Need To Focus On... So Many Things.
Nganono : Now According To The Recording, That You Say He Has... What Is On It That Is So Incriminating Other Than The Heist... Because I Am Pretty Sure They Is More To This Story... Than Just A Mere Heist.
Could This Be Linked To Jerry Masilo, We Know You Killed For A Document... I Think.
Bab’Dlamini : (He Looks At Him In Shock) That Was Not Why I Killed Jerry Masilo, He Was Owing Me A Lot Of Money.... Way Much More Than Just A Mere... Document... The Reason Why I Needed The Document, Was Because I Needed It And In Fact I Don’t Know Why I Am Explaining Myself To You Guys. (His Eyes Move To Mukuna Like An Owl)
Mabutho : (He Chuckles) You Can Lie To Everyone But Never Me Or Any Of Your Sons, News Tends To Move Very Fast In This Place (He Looks At Mukuna) But We Don’t Care... We Only Want Our Brother Out, So If He Is Asking For 69 % Of Our Share.... We Need To Give Him What He Wants (He Turns To Nganono)
Nganono : And In That Way... We Get Our Freedom Back And Our Brothers Out Of This Mess.
Bab’Dlamini Let’s Out A Sigh And Turns To Mukuna, And He Nods Slowly In Agreement With Mabutho And Nganono.
He Takes His Phone And Quickly Phones Bab’Hlophe Whilst Putting It On Loud Speaker And He Tells Him That.
Bab’Dlamini : Hi Hlophe... Can We Meet
Bab’Hlophe : Where Exactly?
Bab’Dlamini : I Will Send You The Address And Time, And Please...Be On Time
Bab’Hlophe : I Am Always On Time, The Question Should Be.... Will My Share Be On Time?
Bab’Dlamini : Yes It Will Be...And One More Thing... Don’t Harm My Son, At All Cost.
Bab’Hlophe : I Won’t Harm Him... He Is Your Seed After All... A Very Rebellious Seed... See You Soon Dlamini.
Bab’Hlophe Cuts The Call And Immediately A Staring Contest Begins Between Bab’Dlamini And His Sons.
Zimele Arrives Home With A Sad Face And Quickly Makes A Phone Call To His Mother And By Mother... I Mean Hector.
Hector Picks Up The Call And Immediately Before Zimele Can Say Anything To Him, Hector Quickly Asks Him That.
Hector : (Who Is Dressed In A Blue Suit As He Is Already Dressed Up For The Funeral) Where Have You Been?.... I Have Been Trying Your Phone For Days But You Didn’t Respond... I Was Worri..... (Zimele Is Silent) Hello... Hello..
Zimele : (After A Short Moment, Zimele Let’s Out A Chuckle) I Am Here Ma’... I Was A Bit Busy As Usual But I Can Truly Say That Based Off Your Current Mood That You Were Worried About Your Husband...
Hector : (He Blushes) What Husband... Get Away... I Am No One’s Partner... Okay.
Zimele : Most Definitely So, You Are No One’s Partner And That’s Because You Are Mine.
Hector : (He Smiles) What Do You Want, Zimele (Zimele Feels Like Traveling To Heaven By The Way, Hector Just Called His Name) I Have To Get To The Morgue To Collect The Body... So Be Snappy... I Don’t Have All Day.
Zimele : I... I Just Wanted To Let You Know That You Are Not Alone And I Care About You.
Hector : Zimele Be Serious Please.
Zimele : Okay Fine... (He Changes His Voice To A Low Tone, Making Hector Blush Deeply) I Wanted To Ask If I Could Attend The Funeral And Offer My Condolences, And Also See My In-laws...I Miss Them... Pretty Please.
Hector : (He Blushes A Little And Let’s Out A Sigh) Fine... Zimele You Can Come... But You Have To Hurry We Are Leaving In Less Than Two Hours.. So Be Fast
Zimele Smiles With His Cute Dimples Showing The Excitement As Their Too Deep, Hector Cuts The Call And He Quickly Runs To His Room, Trying To Find An Outfit.
Bab’Dlamini Meets With Bab’Hlophe At A Very Expensive Restaurant In Bramley And As Their Sit Down And Sharing Greetings.
Bab’Dlamini : I Will Give You 31,050,000 Of Which Is The 69% That You Asked For But Still I Want You To Know That You Will Get The Money, When I Get My Son And The Recording And You Find A Way To Remove That Case From The Police... If Not... Then You Won’t Get The Millions That You Want.
Bab’Hlophe : You Have Spoke Well, Very Well But I Am Not A Man To Beat Around The Bush Too Much... You Will Get Your Son... When I Get My Money And You Will Get The Recording... Including The Removal Of The Case, When You Give Me... Three Additional Routes.
Bab’Dlamini : Meaning...
Bab’Hlophe : I Want You To Give Me The Routes That Give You The Most Money And From There You Can Get Whatever You.
Bab’Dlamini : What Type Of Nonsense Is That... Are You Out Of Your Mind... You Are Biting More Than You Can Chew And Swallow.. Hlophe.
Bab’Hlophe : Give Me What I Want Or Else You Won’t Get Your Son Or The Recording.... And I Will Push Further More To Have Your Son Locked Up For Good, Despite The Fact That He Got An Early Release.
He Stands Up And Leaves Bab’Dlamini Super Angry That He Immediately Takes His Phone And Calls Mukuna, And He Tells Him That He Has To Take Him Somewhere And It’s Urgent
Meanwhile At The Memorial Service That Is Being Held At The Church, Hector Keeps Looking At The Back As He Searches For Zimele, Who Told Him That He Was Stuck In Traffic.
He Looks Again And This Time He Sees Zimele At The Back, And He Smiles And Nods His Head.
Thato Also Sees Him And Quickly Comes Out Of Hector’s Hands And Runs To Zimele, Who Hugs Him Deeply.
As The Memorial Is Underway, Everyone Is Busy Singing Along To The Beautiful Songs That Are Somehow Making Hector Remember His Father And How He Would Dance With Them To Those Very Same Songs That They’re Singing In Church.
Those Memories Make Him Cry Deeply And One Can See That Kedibone And Morena Are Also Crying But MmeMoichela And Her Golden Child Are Not Even Bothered At All.
They’re Make Their Way Out Of Church, Following The Body Behind Whilst A Beautiful Song Called Oh My Son By Lucky Dube Plays In The Background.
A Flood Of Emotions Hangs Over Them As Everyone Is Entering The Various Cars And Following The Car That Has The Body But Surprisingly All Of Hector’s Siblings Refuse To Enter In The Same Car With Their Mother And Move To Enter Zimele’s Car, Making MmeMoichela And Phuti Angry But Somehow Phuti Seems To Know Who Is Zimele But Hasn’t Yet Remembered Him Well.
Meanwhile Bab’Hlophe Arrives At The Place Where Their Keeping Nkosi And Mr Eden, And He Finds Mulalo, Sitting At The Entrance.
He Moves To Him After Looking Around, Making Sure That He Was Not Followed By Anyone, He Then Joins Him (Sitting Next To Him) And Asks Him That.
Bab’Hlophe : How Are Our Hostages/ Victims Doing At This Moment?
Mulalo : (He Let’s Out A Sigh) Well.. Put The Hostages Aside For Now And Tell Me What Happened At The Meeting With Bab’Dlamini And Where Are We Getting The Money?
Bab’Hlophe : It Went Well And We Will Be Getting Our Money With Possibly Three Additional Routes....
Mulalo : Three Additional What.... What Did You Do Over There Uncle?
Bab’Hlophe : I Forced Him To Give Me More Than Just 31,050,000 (Mulalo Looks At Him With A Shocked Face) I Told Him To Give Us Three Additional Routes....
Mulalo : (He Stands Up In Anger, Facing Him) This Can’t Be True.... Not In Any Way True... You Have Messed Up Everything... Do You Really Think That Dlamini Will Hand Over His Routes To You Without A Fight.... That Man Fights Dirty... And You Know It... (Bab’Hlophe Tries To Defend Himself But Mulalo Tells That) I Don’t Want To Hear It Because We Are Finished... Finished!
As He Takes His Leave, Leaving Bab’Hlophe Confused As He Scratches His Bald Head Looking For Answers.
On The Other Side, Bab’Dlamini Arrives At An Open Field That Has Small Houses In It, Which Makes It Look More Like A Rural Area.
He Comes Out Of The Car And Tells Mukuna Not To Follow Him And That He Will Be Back In A Few Hours.
As He Makes His Way Through The Small Houses, Walking As If He Knows The Area In And Out, Mukuna Stays In The Car And Obeys The Orders That Were Given To Him.
Meanwhile On The Other Side At The Cemetery Before Anyone Can Stand, MmeMoichela Slowly Moves Through The Crowd With Her Daughter, Who Has Risen Her Own Concerns That Hector Must Not See Anything At The Cemetery, Since He Is Not The First Son Of The Marriage After All They Refused For Her, How On Earth Can They Agree For Hector.
MmeMoichela Looks At The Coffin, That Has Already Been Placed In A Certain Position And Her Eyes Immediately Fall On Hector, Who Is In Tears And When The Pastor Calls Him, It’s As If MmeMoichela Was Placed On Hot Lava, And That’s When She Did The Unforgettable And Ruined Her Husband’s Funeral, Along With The Assistance Of Her Daughter.
In A Small House, That Has Statues And With Those Weird Voodoo Stuff More Like Witchcraft.
A Man Comes Out Dressed In A Witchdoctor Outfit And Sits Opposite Him, And Asks Him That.
Witchdoctor : To What Do I Owe This Pleasure, After All These Years, Mdlovu (One Of The Dlamini Clan Names).
Bab’Dlamini : My Brother... They Is Fire On My Mountain... Everything Is Not Going My Way... I Feel... I Feel Congested... I Feel As If I’m Failing And That Never Happens, I Never Fail... It Doesn’t Exist In My Dictionary...
Witchdoctor : Look Here, Let’s See What The Bones Will Tell Us (Bab’Dlamini Nods And Immediately He Throws The Bones, And Begins Saying Some Weird Incantations That Can Easily Make A Man Pee In His Own Pants, He Completely His Consulting Process And Tells Him That) I See Her.
Bab’Dlamini : Who Do You See... Please Tell Me.
Witchdoctor : I See Your Wife (Immediately Bab’Dlamini Opens His Eyes In Shock) She’s Alive And Is Living In Another Body.
Bab’Dlamini : What...What Body... Can You See Anything?
Witchdoctor : I Can’t See Anything But It’s A He.
Bab’Dlamini : You Mean She Is Alive But In A Man’s Body, It’s Been Over 18 Years, Is They Anything That We Can Do, To Erase Him.
Witchdoctor : He Is Heavily Protected... Not By Her Alone But Also By A Man...(Bab’Dlamini Immediately Asks Him Who Is The Man) His Name Is Jerry Masilo... (After Leaving Bab’Dlamini Shocked, He Remains Silent After Which He Asks Him That) Why Did You Kill Him?
Bab’Dlamini : I Killed Jerry Masilo... I Murdered Him For His Documents... I Wanted And I Still Need The Ownership Of Those Taxis’... Not Him Or My Wife... Will Stand In My Path... So Please Find A Way... I Am Not Going To Lose, What I Have Worked For... What I Have Struggled To Occupy All These Years.
Witchdoctor : I’m Afraid... I’m Scared For You.
Bab’Dlamini : Why Are You Scared?.... Huh... We Have Been Doing This Years... For Decades.
Witchdoctor : The Reason Why I Am Scared Is Because This Fight Is Not Only Spiritual But Also Physical... As Long As That Man Is Still Alive... As Long As He Lives... You Will Not Have Peace Or Joy... Your Downfall Is Near.
That Revelation Leaves Bab’Dlamini Shocked That He Looks Like Someone With Constipation.
Meanwhile On The Side, Everyone At The Funeral Is Shocked About What Just Took Place.
Zimele Quickly Moves To Help Hector, Out Of The Hellhole (Burial Spot) That He Was Pushed In By Phuti, And That’s When His Eyes Meet With Phuti And He Tells Him That.
Zimele : I Know You...I Know You Very Well.... I Could Sense That I Have Seen This Face Somewhere... (It Finally Hits Him) Phuti Moichela
Phuti : It’s Can’t Be.
Zimele : We Meet Again.
© All Rights Reserved By George Osumba
2022